DATE:         06/??/77

TIME:           01:00

LOCATION:    Marion, IL, USA

TERRAIN:       Wooded

OBSERVED:    Was 15 or so at the time, around midsummer 1976 or 77, in a house on the edge of town with woods around the house & empty farm fields across street. This was during a big spate of "MoMo" reports that had been going on across Missouri and Illinois.

I had stayed up late with a friend, we were alone in the house. Heard a growling noises behind the house, then banging and tearing sounds from outside the master bedroom window. We were terrified, wanted to call police, but the only phone in the house was in the master bedroom and we were too scared to go in there.

After about 15 minutes of noises, it got quiet. We stayed up all night, then went outside the next morning and found the aluminum frame of the window screen to the master bedroom had been ripped upwards from the bottom. The bottom of the window frame was (still is) about 6-1/2 feet from the ground, so something pretty tall must have been trying to get in the house.

We found a small tuft of  maybe 6-8 strands about 3" long  of coarse, dark-colored hair, caught in a corner of the bent frame. I don't remember any smells, there were no tracks (we looked HARD) due to the heavy layer of leaves & grass in the area behind the house. We told our parents and friends about what happened, but were laughed at.

It is known that there are small bears in the area sometimes (rarely), so I suppose that's a possible explanation, except that the window was so high off the ground it makes me doubt the bear theory, and I don't remember there being any claw marks.

Also, there were trash cans right outside the back door, I'd think a bear would have gone after them first. My friend kept the tuft of hair for a long time, but I've lost contact with him, don't know if he still has it.  I can still see that window frame in my mind, and I NEVER go into the woods unarmed.
 

ACTIVITIES OF WITNESS(ES):  Had been watching TV, listening to music, and eating pizza for hours. Typical teenage time-wasting.
 

DESCRIPTION OF CREATURE:
 

OTHER NOTES:
 

OTHER SIGHTINGS IN THIS AREA?:  There had been several reports of "MoMo" across Kansas (I think), Missouri, and Illinois prior to this. I remember thinking afterwards that it was as if "something" was traveling eastwards and visited us on it's way. Don't remember if there were more reports after this. Now I'm curious, maybe I'll see if there are online newspaper archives I can investigate... Maybe try to contact my old friend and see if he has that hair. I'd pay (now that I'm old enough to have money :-) to have it analyzed just for my peace of mind.